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The Farm
Promotional photograph of The Farm in 1992 L to R:Ben Leach,Carl Hunter,Roy Boulter, Keith Mullin (back row), Steve Grimes andPeter Hooton (front row)
Background information
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genres	Alternative rock alternative dance baggy indie rock
Years active	1983 (1983)–1996 (1996), 2004–present
Labels	Produce Sire
Members	Peter Hooton Steve Grimes Carl Hunter Roy Boulter Keith Mullin Ben Leach
Past members	Phil Strongman Andy McVann Anthony Evans Steve Levy George Maher John Melvin Bobby Bilsborough Howard Beesley David Peel

The Farm are an Englishband fromLiverpool. Their first album,Spartacus, reached the top position on theUK Albums Chart when it was released in March 1991;^[1]Spartacus 30 was released in 2021 to commemorate the anniversary.Spartacus includes two songs which had been top 10 singles the year before.^[2][3] In 2012, they toured with their Spartacus Live shows and formed part of the Justice Tonight Band, supportingthe Stone Roses atHeaton Park,Phoenix Park,Lyon andMilan. They formed part ofThe Justice Collective which had the 2012Christmas number one with their recording of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother".^[4]

The band was formed in early 1983^[3] and initially comprised Peter Hooton, Steve Grimes, John Melvin and Andrew John "Andy" McVann,^[5] who was killed in a police chase on 1 October 1986 at the age of 21,^[6] and to whose parents the band's subsequent album,Spartacus, is dedicated.

The band evolved from an earlier group calledThe Excitements,^[7] initially including Phil Stephenson on bass guitar, Neil (Cad) Campbell on drums, Grimes on guitar and Thomas (the band's dancer). They becameThe Farm after Martin Dunbar (vocals) left and Peter Hooton joined, although they did play several gigs as The Excitements with Hooton on vocals. In 1984, they released thesingle, "Hearts and Minds", produced byGraham "Suggs" McPherson,^[8] lead vocalist withMadness.^[3] In 1986, after McVann's death, Melvin left the band to pursue a varied career as the director of his own construction firm, but he eventually returned to music in 1990 under the guise of Mr. Smith, a two-piece band that toured frequently, but did not release anything of note. In 1987, the band supportedthe Housemartins on their UK tour.

After the departure of Melvin and the death of McVann, Hooton brought in a new line-up. They released fourindependent singles, but did not have a big break until 1990.^[9] In 1989, the band had been given acameo role in the movieThe Final Frame starring Suggs. They were signed after this and hired Suggs as their producer. Their first single under new management was "Stepping Stone", a dance remake ofPaul Revere & the Raiders andThe Monkees' single "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone",^[9] a 1966 single that in its day reached No. 20 in the U.S.Billboard charts for The Monkees.^[3] They appeared inThe Face, an influentialpopular culture magazine in the UK, and their promotion of "No alla violenza" anti-hooliganT-shirts duringItalia 90 helped to raise their profile further.

The Farm's first song to reach the top part of theUK Singles Chart was "Groovy Train", which reached the Top 10 in September 1990.^[9] During the summer that year they played in Ibiza and were a key feature in the filmA Short Film About Chilling.^[10] In late November that year, they released their most memorable song, "All Together Now", which instantly became a hit and peaked at number four in the charts in December 1990.^[3] It was on the crest of this wave that their albumSpartacus reached No. 1 in the UK the following year.

In 1991, the Farm teamed up withPete Wylie of Wah! (The Mongrel), to re-record his 1986 hit "Sinful" in the indie-dance 'baggy' style^[11] and followed it up with three smaller hits on the Produce record label.

With the success ofSpartacus, the band signed a major label deal withSony Records, who gave them their own End Product record label^[12] (which played on the name of their former independent record company Produce). However their success was to be short-lived due to changes in the indie music scene and the move to a major. Their first single for Sony, "Rising Sun" (1992), moved away from the baggy sound and did not perform well, peaking at Number 48 in the UK Top 75.^[9] At this point the band had split from producersPete Heller andTerry Farley and had joined up withMark Saunders, who had producedErasure andThe Cure. In October 1992 they reached the Top 20 with a cover version ofThe Human League's "Don't You Want Me", recorded for charity albumRuby Trax - The NME's Roaring Forty (a follow-up to the NME'sSgt. Pepper Knew My Father).^[9]

The Farm's last 'new' top 40 under their own name was a re-recorded version of "Love See No Colour", now used as the title track of their 1992 album.The Sony Music version dispensed of the 'Scally-baggy' rhythms of the original Produce release (which had got 'lost in the Christmas chart rush' at the end of 1991), for a slower more synthpop sound with gospel overtones and a big budget video using classical and religious imagery. However, this song only reached Number 35 in the UK charts while the parent album did not chart at all (which means that The Farm joinSteve Brookstein andJohnny Hates Jazz in the list ofalbum chart 'One-Hit Wonders'). The Farm were dropped from Sony Music.

In 1994, they released the albumHullabaloo on theSire label, followed by their last major single.^[3] Despite being a group largely supportingLiverpool F.C., they allowedEverton Football Clubto release a version of "All Together Now" on MDMC Records (which was credited to Everton FC by the UK top 40^[13]) to accompany their presence in the 1995FA Cup Final, in which Everton beatManchester United 1-0.

Their most recent hit single under their own name was "All Together Now 2004", featuring the S.F.X. Boys Choir of Liverpool, as the official anthem of theEngland National Football Team atEuro 2004.^[14] It was issued on 31 May 2004 and, as the name suggests, in a slightly remixed format, with radio commentary from the Euro 2004 qualifiers added to the track, whilst a bonus remix was included on the single with the help ofDJ Spoony.

The Farm was also one of the first bands to perform at theEcho Arena Liverpool when it opened in January 2008.

The Farm were also central to the track released to commemorate theHillsborough disaster, "The Fields of Anfield Road", the proceeds going to the families of those who were killed.^[15] Credited to the Liverpool Collective featuring the Kop Choir, this single was a new entry at number 16 on theUK Singles Chart on 12 April 2009 and reached number 14 a week later.^[16]

In 2011, the Farm joined forces with others to create theDon't Buy The Sun Gig, at the Olympia in Liverpool, which was part of the protests on Merseyside againstThe Sun newspaper forits false reporting on the Hillsborough disaster 22 years before.^[17] This comprisedMick Jones fromthe Clash,Pete Wylie from the Mighty Wah,John Power and others. This then formed the core of The Justice Tonight Band which toured from 2011 to 2012, including four performances supporting the Stone Roses in their comeback tour in 2012.^[18] The Justice Tonight Band headlined the Strummerville festival in 2012^[19] and went on to formthe Justice Collective who had the Christmas number 1 with their version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", a charity single in aid of the families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.^[4]

In 2014, 'the Collective' reconvened again to record another charity record, with "All Together Now" being re-recorded again by members of the Farm now under The Peace Collective name. However, unlike "The Fields of Anfield Road" or "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", this failed to chart in the UK top 40, peaking at number 70.^[20]

Throughout 2013 and 2014, the band have continued to perform at festivals around the UK, including theIsle of Wight Festival in 2013.^[21] In 2014,Alan McGee said that the band's acoustic gig at his new venue The Tabernacle, was in his "Top Ten All Time Gigs".^[22] The Farm continued to perform live in 2015 at various festivals such as at the Shiiine On Weekender in November, 2015 and appeared live doing a number of acoustic performances.^[23]

In 2016, the band along with numerous other celebrities, toured the UK to supportJeremy Corbyn's bid to becomePrime Minister.^[24] In June 2017, the band supported aLabour Party rally prior to the2017 UK general election.^[25]

In 2018, Carl Hunter directed the feature filmSometimes Always Never, which was written byFrank Cottrell Boyce and starredBill Nighy,Sam Riley,Alice Lowe,Jenny Agutter andTim McInnerny. This film received a 4 star review inThe Guardian and even though the soundtrack featured music byEdwyn Collins and Sean Read rather than the Farm, the film was produced by members of group.^{[26][27][28][29]}

To commemorate the 30th anniversary ofSpartacus being No. 1 in the album charts,BMG releasedSpartacus 30 which includes many tracks/remixes previously unavailable and released a HD version of "Groovy Train".

Former member George Maher died in December 2022.^[30]

In June 2025, the band announced the release of their first new album in 31 years, entitled "Let The Music (Take Control)", which contains ten new tracks.^[31]

The band nameThe Farm has often thought to have had an association with the Liverpool/Knowsley suburbCantril Farm now Stockbridge Village however no members of the group came from there although Peter Hooton did work as a youth worker on the estate in the 1980's.

Current members

• Peter Hooton – vocals (1983–1996, 2004–present)
• Keith Mullin – guitar (1986–1996, 2004–present)
• Steve Grimes – guitar, keyboards (1983–1996, 2004–present)
• Carl Hunter – bass guitar (1986–1996, 2004–present)
• Ben Leach – keyboards (1988–1996, 2004–present)
• Roy Boulter – drums (1987–1996, 2004–present)

Former members

• Paula David – backing vocals (1989–1993)
• Phil Strongman – bass guitar (1983–1986)
• Andy McVann – drums (1983–1986; died 1986)
• Anthony Evans – brass (1984–1986)
• Steve Levy – brass (1984–1986)
• George Maher – brass (1984–1986; died 2022)
• John Melvin – brass (1984–1986)
• Mick Hanratty – drums (1985–1987)
• Bobby Bilsborough – brass (1988–1990)
• David Peel – brass (1988–1990)
• Howard Beesley – guitar (1980–1984)

• Pastures Old and New (1986) [compilation]
• Spartacus Live (1991) [video]
• Groovy Times (1991) [video]
• Best of the Farm (1998) [compilation]
• The Very Best of the Farm (2001) [compilation]
• Back Together Now! Live (2006) [video]
• All Together with the Farm (2007) [live album]

• Official website
• The Farm atAllMusic
• The Farm discography atDiscogs

• Alternative dance musical groups
• Baggy groups
• English dance music groups
• English alternative rock groups
• Madchester groups
• English indie rock groups
• Alternative rock groups from Liverpool
• Sire Records artists
• Musical groups established in 1983
• Musical groups disestablished in 1996
• Musical groups reestablished in 2004

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